EP REVIEW: Vorant Gnosis – Verberis

VERBERIS are what one might call an enigma, a void of blackened death. They have returned to the scene with their biggest shift in musical direction so far, with their newest EP release, Vorant Gnosis. As with many bands that are blackened death, their songs are not something that you just listen too, they are an experience, a journey into the darkest pits of hell, and Vorant Gnosis is no exception. With a short EP featuring only two tracks, they make up for it by having a combined runtime of over 32 minutes!

Vorant begins its journey with electric static, and pulsing, ominous reverberations, mixing in with what can only be described as a lamenting horn, rising, and falling periodically. An outsider might call this noise, but this is a cacophonous, organised chaos. Jumping straight into the meat and potatoes at the 1-minute mark, with slow and impending riffs groaning into the night, a dirge for all to hear. The demonic growling charges into the song, impactful and raw, multiplying the heaviness tenfold. After a powerful few minutes, there’s a sudden small break, but not for long as VERBERIS introduces a very death-y interlude.

It’s filled with breakneck drumming, pummelling the listener into submission, while crushing guitars tenderise the soul. The twin guitars playing in disharmonious synchronicity really adds a little something extra too. Now, you may be wondering if this is as heavy as it gets. We’re glad to report that oh boy does it get dirty after that. It seems like each new section of the track is in competition with the previous for who can be the most gut-busting and nasty. Of course, all the heaviness can’t continue throughout the whole track, and towards the end it returns to the starting tempo, just before a very short, eerie semi-acoustic lick is played out.

Melancholic and ethereal are how we would describe first contact with Gnosis, with atmospheric cymbals accompanying the guitarwork. With guitars harmonising and a military march themed drums, the track is off to an ominous start. A monster of a riff billows out over the top, setting the tone for the rest of the track, increasing in tempo, and cementing the weight of playing at the same time. In the background you can make out a meaty, progressive bassline filling out the rest of the instruments. Then, at the 4-minute mark, the vocals erupt into the fray empowering the sound even further, diving into the murky waters of black metal more than the previous track. After some time, it takes a break to return to the acoustic, this time sprinkling in some gruff chanting and building into a crushing and oppressive avalanche of blackened death goodness. With many mix-ups, changes of pace and tempo switches, the rest of the track goes on to be, while powerful and heavy, a little repetitive here and there. Of course you can’t guarantee every track is perfect, that would be mental, but this is still a strong song, regardless of the downfalls.

To conclude, Vorant Gnosis is a solid EP from VERBERIS , with many cracking elements within, lots of death, lots of black metal, a great mix of both too. It’s not without it’s faults, but it’s hardly a bad album at all. This is an EP for those that want something a little different from their standard blackened death, but familiar enough to be comfortable, a stepping stone so to speak.

Rating: 7/10

Vorant Gnosis is out now via Pulverised Records.

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